No water needed
As an early morning walker enjoying the beautiful neighborhoods in Seal, I want to remind residents that sidewalks, gutters and streets don’t need to be watered. Please check your systems.
Donna Chafe
Remembering Nancy Grgas
I loved the article you wrote about Nancy Grgas.
Seal Beach lost one of its brightest lights with her passing. As your article noted, Nancy never did anything half way.
If Nancy was in, she was all in. I wanted to add a few memories I have about Nancy.
First and foremost was her positive and loving attitude regarding her family and her community.
She was extremely devoted to her husband Victor and her two sons, Jeffrey and Steven.
Nancy relished her role as Grandma when her son Jeffrey and his wife gave birth to Kiley two years ago and then Avery days before her passing.
This enthusiasm extended to her community where Nancy was a tireless advocate for everything Seal Beach.
As you noted, she did many things for the community including starting the Leo’s Club to provide young people with the experience of giving back to one’s community.
However, what I will remember and cherish most about Nancy was her friendship.
The first time I met Nancy I approached her regarding some questions I had about the schools in the area.
Instead of taking a few minutes to speak to me, she invited me to her home and we spent four hours going over just about every issue either of us could think of.
I remember leaving her thinking this was an extraordinarily unique individual, full of life and ideas with no pretense whatsoever.
Over the years I came to love Nancy like my own sister. Her kindness and warmth always impressed me.
She has true empathy for others and always strove to do what she believed was right. She was forthright, always said what she thought, and was never afraid to get in and get her hands dirty.
The words “Let’s Do It” were attached to almost every idea. She seemed to possess a boundless energy and enthusiasm to get things done.
Nancy was one of the most unique individuals I have ever known and as my own children grow I hope to instill in them many of the qualities I saw in Nancy.
I have a building on 7th Street in Long Beach near Wilson High School. As you drive by, look up and you will see the initials NG on the wall facing the street.
As long as I own this building her initials will look out on the street and be a reminder to everyone who passes by who this wonderful person was.
I had the privilege to be at her bedside last Sunday evening, a night before she passed.
I was able to hold her hand and stroke her hair and tell her how much she meant to me.
I do not know if she knew I was with her but I know that a spirit as strong as Nancy’s never dies and that she live will live in the hearts and souls of my family for the rest of our lives.
Matthew Duggan, Ph.D.
Belmont Shore
About the dogs
Hi Charles Kelly,
I enjoyed reading about you and your “little corgi” and your request for pet stories (“My Turn: The little corgi and the big, grouchy grown up,” Thursday, March 13, Sun Newspapers.)
In 1930, at age 7, my first pet was a terrier named Peggy. She was given to us by a nurse who worked long hours and didn’t have time or a decent place for a pet.
We had limited space in our rented “flat,” so we kept Peggy in a corner of the bathroom.
One morning, I was truly amazed to see five puppies. They were all white-fur, except one that was all black.
I named him Fang after the black panther in the “Terry and the Pirates” newspaper cartoon.
I’ve had six more pet dogs through the years with odd names such as “Yo-Yo.”
He was a Black Labrador, and lived to age 19.
The last dog I ever had was a Belgian shepherd. My kids gave her to me as a birthday present; told me her name was Lady.
One day as I was doing yard-work in the front yard and Lady was nearby, two biblical women stopped by. I told them, “I have my own religion.”
As they walked away, my dog followed them, and I called out, “Lady, cone here.”
So the two women and Lady came back. I explained. “My dog’s name is Lady.”
Another time, while working in the front yard, and Lady lay nearby.
A woman approached me and asked directions to an address.
After I gave her the information she needed, she walked away … and my dog followed her. Again, I called out, “Lady, come here.”
My dog and the woman came back.
To overcome more situations like these, I renamed “Lady” into “Lucky.”
Bill Thomas
Rossmoor
Tough enough on Main Street
It is tough enough to make it on Main Street in Seal Beach. We have a highly variable seasonal demand for a variety of stores.
We often struggle with high rents and the costs of doing business in a California beach town.
Parking, competition from big box stores, on-line ordering and the expense to keep up a storefront all work against us to stay in business.
So, on Thursday night, when our front tempered glass window, a full 10-and-a-half by 6-and-a-half feet was hit by a rock, BB gun, or slingshot and started shattering, it was really not a great feeling.
Somebody was careless or just a vandal.
We would prefer not to think about vandalism, but that is what ended up being in the police report and what the emergency boarding company indicated.
Like most merchants on Main, we work together to give support to Run Seal Beach, lots of the school fundraisers, regular donations, and help fellow residents like Fran, who had her trike stolen.
It really hurts to have our storefront violated. Forget the expense in both time and money, it is just one more challenge for us to overcome.
Will we, sure.
Does that make being in business any more fun? Definitely not.
If you know anything about it, we hope you tell the police about it.
We know there is a growing neighbor-to-neighbor program for watching out for crime.
As a business community, we need to be at least as vigilant.
Thanks to all those customers and friends who have come forward to find out what had happened.
Just keep shopping local, and help all of us stay in business in town.
Seth Eaker
Seal Beach
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